I was in the Yma desert just outside of Walton, Arizona when I was 15..I was hitch-hiking home from Missouri to Long Beach, California where I grew up. I had gone back to my birth state to work in the fields for that summer. It had taken me four days to get to Walton, and I had not eaten much nor kept myself hydrated.
The temperature was 120 º F. plus. The last thing I remembered before goig unconcious was, roadside rest five miles.. It was just about 10 AM.
The next thing I remember is seeing a light green and my face wet. I had eaten a wtermelong, probably seeds and all. Taking the rind off of my face I saw first an old Mexican who had stopped to help me. Somehow I had made it to the roadside res with the shade of dried out palm froms over several picnic tables. There was a family eating and laughing, but my friend, the old Mexican is the one who when he saw a lad laying on a picnic table delerious had the comon sense or decency to help.
He gave me a ride into Yuma. Oh, he offered me another watermelon, and I wanted it, but I was too embarrassed to accept it. He was hauling watermelons you se..
At any rate, that left a bad tast in my mouth for anywhere in Arizona, though I know it is a beautiful state, Walton, Yuma, Flagstaff, Phoenix, let us not forget Tucson and more.
If you ever see someone deliriating on a table top at a roadside rest, I certanly hope you will help him or her….God bless Arizona, and everyone ther.